Well the MSNBC article is up and I’m linked, so I guess I should put a post up so people clicking through can find out what is going on.
Here are my main posts about Absolute Poker and Ultimate Bet:
- Ultimate Bet and Russ Hamilton (July 13th, 2008)
- Ultimate Bet Cheating Scandal (May 29th, 2008)
- Absolute Poker Cheating Scandal (October 17th, 2007)
I’ve also made a number of other posts on the subject:
- Ultimate Bet Followup (July 17th, 2008)
- Absolute Poker Costa Rica Trip: Part 1 (Nov 11th, 2007)
- Absolute Poker Costa Rica Trip: Part 2 (Nov 18th, 2007)
- Absolute Poker Costa Rica Trip: Part 3 (Nov 23rd, 2007)
- Absolute Poker Costa Rica Trip: Part 4 (Dec 8th, 2007)
- PokerNews Q&A Part 1 (Nov 9th, 2007)
- PokerNews Q&A Part 2: Absolute Poker (Nov 17th, 2007)
I also want to point out that I’m about 95% sure that my quote “who’s going to make them pay” was in reference to “who is going to make Excapsa pay Tokwiro” not “who is going to make Tokwiro pay the players”. I’ve never doubted that the players are going to get paid back.
UPDATE: Thanks to Mike Brunker (the reporter who wrote the story) for clarifying my quote by adding the Excapsa part.
Yeah, but for us regular readers, what is the URL of the MSNBC story?
Oops, for people going in the other direction, this is the MSNBC story:
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/26563848/
Just found your blog today from the msnbc article. cool blog. i’m living in cr, too. you ever hit up any of the live games at the local casinos?
@Steve,
Not really. Contrary to what the article claims, I’m not a professional poker player. I stopped playing frequently a few years back when the UIGEA hit and I couldn’t play on Party anymore. I haven’t picked the game back up since, although by that point I was firmly entrenched in the poker business world.
Why does the article specifically mention Russ Hamilton on page 2 as a consultant for ieLogic, but on page 3, when it mentions the “smoking gun” of the traced address, it only says it belongs to “a professional poker player who was associated with ieLogic in the early days”, and refers to this suspect many times as “the player”, when that player is a person already mentioned in the article?
Legal concerns on the part of MSNBC forced that ambiguity.
for such a complex issue, as far as tracing the parties involved, Brunker appears to have done a good job at making it understandable. i’d like to have some non-poker readers input on how they view the issue.
not to be nit-picky, but:
“They turned to the MyPokerIntel.com Web site, which tracks high-stakes online tournaments, where many thousands of dollars can change hands, and found that NioNio had won in 13 of the 14 sessions recorded there, cashing out with approximately $135,000.”
this is entirely about cash game stakes, not tournaments. does MyPokerIntel even do tournaments? something Brunker might want to edit.
i appreciate your time and input into this issue, Nat. with nothing to financially gain from helping out, you still did a yeoman’s job.
also, thanks for the coordination with Brunker. this issue has become kinda stale, so hopefully the MSNBC piece will re-ignite some fires.
onward to the 60 Minutes piece!